Int’l Labor Mission ‘Alarmed’ by Rising Rights Violations

Members of the International Labor Solidarity Mission (ILSM) said they are alarmed by the rising cases of human rights violations in the country, especially extra-judicial killings and abductions of unionists, labor organizers, activists and supporters, under the Arroyo administration.

BY KARL G. OMBION AND RANIE AZUE
Bulatlat

BACOLOD CITY – Members of the International Labor Solidarity Mission (ILSM) said they are alarmed by the rising cases of human rights violations in the country, especially extra-judicial killings and abductions of unionists, labor organizers, activists and supporters, under the Arroyo administration.

In a press conference they called here May 5, the ILSM reported that all the victims whose cases they had investigated were “principled and committed” organizers and activists, beloved family members and respected members of the communities they had worked with. Most of them devoted their lives to the defense of the rights of sugar workers, it added.

Among the main findings of the mission was that the killings were clearly well-planned and pre-meditated. All cases they had investigated revealed that they were preceded by surveillance, followed by death threats and then the actual execution that mostly took place in isolated locations with minimum chances of having witnesses, the mission stated.

The mission also found out that the government, particularly the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), has not displayed sincerity and determination to protect human rights, and defend the victims and their families.

The mission said in its report that the CHR visits the scenes of the crimes or the community no more than once. In some cases they just ask the family of victims to provide them with whatever evidence they possess. In another case, the mission said, the CHR never bothered to interview the family or the neighbors of the victim.

The CHR admitted to the mission that they lack the resources both to protect witnesses and conduct thorough investigations. The mission however dismissed this as “no excuse.”

The prevailing circumstances they have uncovered gravely pointed to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as culpable for all the killings, harassments and abductions, and other human rights violations against cause-oriented organizers and their supporters nationwide, said Paul Quintos, executive director of the Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (EILER) and designated spokesperson of the mission.

He added that the atrocities have been occurring alongside the Arroyo government’s vilification campaign and constant branding of these organizations as “enemies of the state.”

The mission urges the government to stop the killings now, and abandon its support for the U.S. war on “terror”. It plans to bring their findings to national and international bodies for appropriate actions.

The multi-national members of the ILSM, coming from Belgium, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand and the Philippines, came to Negros Occidental to investigate the extra-judicial killings of Edwin Bargamento, Mario Fernandez and Manuel Bartolino, the abduction of Perseus Geagoni, and the continuing harassments experienced by organizers of the National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) and its allied organizations. Bulatlat

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